Master Class - Play - Terence McNally

Terence McNally - Brava!  Kudos on the dialogue, depth, being a wordsmith extraordinaire!  Moving emotional process for the actors, audience and experience!  Many kudos to McNally!

Master Class reflects a pathos, emotional experience and ability to share a multi-dimensional view of a woman's life journey - the woman - Maria Callas.  Callas' triumph overcoming weight issues and abusive people in her life soars to the height of accomplishment in Opera.  Her voice, technique and ability to move audiences with every role in Opera, reflects her depth - both of talent and technique.

Callas - the Prima Persona of Opera, Voice, Acting & Ability to Show - to Tell & to Transform herself and her audience.  Callas - being Greek, having Passion and being Dramatic.  McNally nails it.

'Master Class' production in Boston in '96 with Faye Dunaway was an intimate and transformational evening in the theater with the actor and sympatico!  By far one of the best theater experiences of my life!

'Master Class' production at the New Rep with Amelia Broome - Ouch!  Broome's performance and accent missed the mark to such a significant degree that it hurt - physcially hurt - my ears, my eyes and oh....my heart.  This is not Callas!  This is not Greek pathos & dramatic pitch!  Broome's accent most certainly sounded Asian and pointed without any emotional guts attached.  Guts in terms of 'having heart' as most creative people know...carries the day & Boome did not!  Guts in terms of 'having heart' and that something-something that all athletes know is the variable for the win, for the last second miracle play.

'Master Class' is masterfull; the play, the words, the emotionals connect.  The production at New Rep was anything but; flat, boring, too staccato and not deep..not connecting and quite honestly, I could have a masterful few hours reading the piece and I, not an professional actor, feel confident that I could mesmerize the audience with a reading, sitting at a table on the stage & have them weep, laugh and empathize with Callas.  Amelai Bloome did none of these things and was grating and a total disappointment; as was evidenced by the lack of applause and lack of response at pivotal points in the production.

This production was a travesty and oh how Callas would have hated it!

Downton Abbey - All the Rage!

The episode did seem more like introductions to characters for next season and culling others. The actual narrative..weak. There was little to no development and very 'light' on substance.  Very disappointing, as many series do become watered down after the lst season; I think Julian in this case should conclude the series and not drag it on & on...it is becoming too commercialized and the strength of the narrative has gone by the wayside.

Just as you knew Matthew would never make it home; too predictiable. Evidently, the actor only signed on for a series of three to free him up for other creative ventures. Good for him; he's a marvelous dramatic actor.

The weaving of the upstairs and downstairs stories and characters quite a wonderful technique and it very much worked during the first season; maybe the second, as well.

The jumping around of the timeframe and the less than developed introduction of this one and that..has made the series less than desirable in terms of cancelling everything to watch - in earnest.

Masterpiece theater has supported classics like Tennyson (Helen Mirren) and MI-5 with drama and action for years; this is not one of them due to the overtone of soap opera.

Should viewers continue to watch?  Probably, however, if there's a cookout or get-together, enjoy your friends and leave the watching to reruns.

Christmas & Holiday Rush -

Christmas & Holiday Rush -

2012 - Another Holiday Season and wondering about the people who rush around with lists, gifts and buying....presents for everyone!   Wondering also about those who have passed, the loved ones that are not with us and the loss and pain in some family members' hearts.

Christmas is coming!   New Year is coming!   The hope and the despair; the looking forward with wishful sighs and looking back with regret & with a poignancy and lament!

Baking and wrapping; Christmas caroles and prayers - part of the times and the season - crying, tears for loss, for missed chances and for regrets!

Peace in the World and in our Neighborhoods!  Peace for our families and our friends!

Dreams of a fourteen year old girl....

Living in Cambridge, Kate had always appreciated being in the city where academics meet the people. Where she fit in, was anyone’s guess? Kate was an Assistant DA in Cambridge prosecuting misdemeanors and felonies, although she was relatively new at it. She also was part of a family squarely centered on work for fair pay and Unions. Her family was well read and the great thing was they were all glib talkers and able to back up their opinions with solid references. The talk was never empty words. The talk was always significant. She loved talking and so, the lawyer part, suit her. Kate was an able advocate and had such a passion for the law that the rest of her life became an afterthought. She also loved to travel and so she did every chance possible. She preferred travelling solo to keep her options open and her pace, entirely her own. At thirty, Kate should have been more attuned to the skepticism of the times, this being post Vietnam, but she remained a romantic and believed love could happen and people are basically good. She lived close the Square, Harvard Square, and closer to Porter Square. Both places were accessible with an easy walk and a minute by car.

Dreams of a fourteen year old girl....

Thinking about dreams, I had when I was fourteen, I wished for the time I would go to Afrika & help the villagers, by bringing them books to learn to think about morethan their tiny community. To bring them ieas and the words to speak more apltly--more descriptively about their feelings, their experiences,

Horses/ Horse Farms / Horses & Nature

Some years ago, when I was young and oh, so confident, stuck in traffic next to two horses, I wrote a story - a love narrative. I wrote a lovely story about the horses on that farm, as I sat in traffic..wishing I were actually one of those horses. I wished that I were in the fields, running, and wished for a reprieve from the traffic, the noise, and the busy-ness that comes with yes, being a busy person.

Longing for peace and time to 'pause', I wrote that story and was satisfied.

And now, by chance, I am moving to live so very close, right next to..& just about in the field; yes, a horse farm. I am moving and gladly welcome the horses. Horses in view and in the fields and galloping, running, jumping..what a lovely coincidence. What a lovely 'pause' from all of that! What grace!

"A Man - A Novel" Oriana Fallaci

A Man – A Novel Oriana Fallaci

Do translations reflect the accurate intentions of the Writer?

As a journalist, courageous in interviewing world leaders, Fallaci asked the questions that some wished to ask and most feared to ask. Her first language, being Italian, the thesis of this critique is to investigate whether or not the meaning of words being translated accurately give the reader the writer’s true intentions.
This novel is her fictionalized work based on her love of the Greek poet and political activist, Alexander Panagoulis. In writing his story, she also writes her own.

It was published in Italian in 1979. The English translation was published in 1980. The nuances and finesse of her original work having been translated to English may or may not have the nuances and finesse conveying the intent of the piece. This is the basis for the analysis.
The novel discusses the actions of a Greek radical in rebelling against the leaders of Greece in the sixties and seventies, which is pivotal in the context of the development of Greek politics. Panagoulis’ attempt to assassinate the Dictator, George Papadopoulos, leads to his immediate capture. He is sentenced and incarcerated. His passion for ideals and truth resonates for Oriana. She gives up her individual former single life and freedom to support his efforts and to help him accomplish his dreams. Her interviews and journal articles far surpassed his political efforts for change. The interviews were given in Greek and translated subsequently.

The beginning, “Yia sena” is translated into ‘FOR YOU”. The words are Greek and the meaning of the original conveys a sensual and passionate meaning. The English translation is in upper case and conveys a ‘SHOUT OUT” and to some extent a wanting to belong to another person or giving something, which is not particularly part of the Greek term. How then is the translator able to take the original language and communicate a similar sensuality, passion or emotion that the English may not able to produce? Is the literature weakened by the translation? Is the writer having her work translated doing a disservice to the piece? Is the work dissipated? Does the translator take on the work of re-writing rather than translating?

Translators have a code and an association with some regulations and standards. The following is from the British Council website.
“To discuss the art of literary translation is to a large extent to mystify it if we disregard the unruly manner in which it has been practiced throughout history. For although writing between two different languages has always been integral part of national literatures and the exchanges between them, the most striking, the truly captivating thing about it is its variations rather than any single characteristic or aspect.” (The British Council is the United Kingdom's website)

The text in translation is an attempt to communicate the words of the writer, perhaps not the ideas communicated. The English language does not have the actual verbiage to effectively communicate the slight nuances of other languages. In this case, both the Italian of the original manuscript, which includes the Greek dialogue, as well as the text, are perhaps too literal and not sufficiently visionary with language.
The phrases in the text infer a sense of struggle with vocabulary and takes away from the original work and intent of Fallaci.
“If you asked him about the old man he would answer with singsong nonsense: ‘I am I. I with him am I with him, I with you am I with you, so I remain always I.’

He also made rather silly plays on words, happy to be a master of my language: ‘non voglio te, volglio il te! I don’t want thee, I want tea!’” (178).

In the novel, the passage uses the word, “papadopoulaki” referencing the guards watching over Panagoulis, as he awaits his execution. They ask him, “Why do you always call us papadopoulaki, what does it mean?” (70). The word as most Greeks understand it to mean is a term of endearment, as term with the “laki”: or “taki” is something or someone small, not literally, but it means either a child or a person that you find dear or is cherished. The response to this question by Alekos is “a smile: “Sometimes it means little Papadopoulos and sometimes servant of Papadopoulos.” (70). My sense of this passage is that Fallaci attempts to integrate the Greek words used by the love of her life. She attempts to distinguish terms used by Greeks and used by “xeni” or “strangers”.
An example of the usage of the phrase attached to a legitimate word is Panayioti means Peter and Panayiotaki means Peter who is dear and lovely or cherished. The actual usage may be shortened by those using the phrase and Panayiotaki becomes “Taki”. It is common and there are passages that exemplify some of these characteristics in usage of language being translated.

The English word choices have some flavor of the man and the plot. How do literary translations retain the emphasis and tone of the original language? Translations may enhance meaning, however, the “tonos” or “emphasis” of language is not word to word, as phrases and usage by the various personalities are one more method of characterizing who they are and what they value. The person translating, as is more commonplace presently, has a clear sense of the culture, traditions and history, as well as the language. This new enlightened persona of a translator has an advantage over counterparts from just a few decades ago.

“And besides we’ll see each other again soon, we’ll see each other at Easter.” (411). The translator uses the word “Easter”, however, I am confident that Fallaci used the word that would be translated more accurately as “Pascha”. Perhaps, the slight difference appears just that, slight. However, to Greek Orthodox the latter term is the only one that reflects the season that is the center of their faith. The language choice of “Easter” is not accurate and although Fallaci is from Italy, she is clearly a person that adopts Greece as her own, when she chooses to have both a physical and a spiritual connection to Alekos Panagoulis.
The words of her book and her interviews are significant and powerful. That significance and power moves and delivers a record of history with a female perspective. Her perspective is of a person with genuine heroic proportions. How does that translate?

Works Cited:
Fallaci, Oriana, A Man-A Novel, Simon & Schuster, NY 1979.
The British Council is the United Kingdom's